The invention relates to an selectively actuable gas shut-off valve apparatus for fluid supply systems and more particularly to such shut-off valve apparatus for automatically shutting off the flow of fluid therethrough in response to evacuation of a previously pressurized valve-actuating chamber.
In fluid supply systems, such as those commonly used by a public utility for providing gaseous or liquid fuels, or other fluid commodities, to its customers, it is often desirable to terminate such fluid supply under various conditions. For example, if a customer has discontinued paying his utility bills for a substantial period of time, it is desirable to have a means, with which the customer cannot easily tamper, by which that customer's service may be conveniently and rapidly terminated without access to the structures on the premises being served. No such convenient or rapidly-actuable termination means has previously been available.
One of the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and relatively tamper-proof valve apparatus for conveniently and rapidly shutting off a fluid supply system where conditions dictate that the supply of such fluid be terminated. Another of the objects of the invention is to provide such a shut-off valve apparatus which may be operated remotely without having access to the interior of the structure being served by such supply system. Still another of the objects of the invention is to provide such a shut-off valve apparatus which may be conveniently re-opened, reset and reused when the fluid supply is re-established. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following discussion and the drawings in connection therewith.